Method, apparatus, and product of knitting



Aug; 3 1926. 3,594,953

K. HOWIE METHOD. APPARATUS, AND PRODUCT 0F KNITTING Filed March 9, 1923 3 Sheets-Sheai l 5- KT! A? A &"' V I! fnuenior:

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K. HOWIE METHOD, APPARATUS, AND PRODUCT 0F KNITTING Filed March 9, 1923 3 Sheets-Shoot 2 ,6 L: 3:1: fi I II W- -15 I =iia- 'u' i 19 30 19 J5 29 iii b f 1 i cm: a

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Aug. 3 1926. 1,594,958

K. HOWIE METHOD, APPARATUS, AND PRODUCT OF KNITTING Filed March 9, 1923 5 Sheets-Sheet :5

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,, M g mwggfw Patented Aug. 3, 1926. V

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

KENNETH HOWIE, on oanxs'rowN, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNO'R- 'ro .WILDMAN MFG. 00., or NORRISTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION or rENNsYnvANIA.

METHOD, APPARATUS, AND IRODUCT F KNITTING.

Application filed March 9, 1923. Serial No. 624,010.

Measuring the length of knitted stockings Fig. 3 is a front view of a portion of 50 by the number of courses in the web, is com- Fig. 2. g mon practice, but, due to variations in the Fig. 4 is a plan view showing a portion tension of the yarns, the stitch lengths vary of the yarn feed mechanism of a knitting 5 to such an extent thatit is necessary to machine with which the yarn furnishing match the units in order to get pairs the mechanism is combined. members of which are of substantially equal Fig. 5 is a plan view of a detail. length. Fig. 6 is a detail plan View of operating In the making of knit stockings, it is comconnections. 1 mon practice to knit one part of the leg Figs. 7 and 8 are plan views in the nature .with one yarn and another part with another of diagrams, showing how the self aligning 0 "yarn, the tension of each varying more or member of the yarn furnishing rolls may asless and producing stitches of varying length, sume different positions relative to the drivand each yarn at times beingunder atening cone or roll. sion different from that of the other yarn. Fig. 9 is a sectional view of one of the It is, furthermore, common practice, to vary yarn furnishing rollers and means for drivthe length of the stitch at different points ing the same. in the length of the leg, for instance, tighter Fig. 10 is a-sectional view of the other stitches being formed at the region of the roller which is frictionally driven from the 20 ankle than at the region of the upper part roll shown in Fig. 9. I

of the leg. Inlcarrying out the invention the yarns An object of my invention is to produce are changed as in ordinary practice by stockings in succession from the same mathrowing one yarn guide finger into feedchine. of equal length and of the same numing position and the other yarn feed finger 2 her of courses, and also to derive these equal is then thrown out of feeding position to length stockings under the conditions above carry its yarn out of work, and each yarn referred to of changing the yarn and vary in my invention when thrown into work,

ing the length of the stitchat different parts; is automatically furnished to the needles by of the leg. rolls in'aceordance with the demands there- 30 The'machine with which the yarn furnishof, irrespective of variations in tension of ing mechanism herein disclosed is combined, the yarn as it comes ofl" from the bobbin and may be of any well-known type whi h as it passes to the'needles so that stitches of measures the length of the units by courses, substantially uniform length will be formed. the result of this combination being units of Conversely when a yarn is thrown out of 35 equal length and of the same number of work at the needles, it is also automatically Courses. I thrown out of connection with the yarn The invention, however, is not limited in furnishing means, so that all furnishing ac- *"all, its aspects to the method or.machine in tion thereon will cease, and this condltion v, which m ing s e y courses. I will continue until this yarn is again intro- 40 The invention resides in the method,'the d d t th n dl whereupon the yarn apparatus, and in the article produced. furnishing action will be resumed automat- In the accompanying drawings I ically.

Figure 1 is a side View of the yarn fuf- The apparatus comprises, in the particular nishing mechanism associated with a stockform chosen .as an example of aphysical em- 45 ing knitting machine of the Pigeon type, bodiment of the invention, a pair' of conical though it will be understood that I do not rollers, one of which, 1, is positively driven limit myself to any particular machine in in unison with the knitting head,- and the carrying out the invention. other of which, 2, is driven by frictional con- Fig. 2 is a front view of the mechanism. tact with the positively driven conical roll.

The conical roll 2 is mounted to be spring pressed against the positively driven cone, and in a manner which will permit said roll 2 to automatically accommodate itself to the conditions arising from the automatic alteration in the position of the yarn passing between them, which is constantly changing its position along the rolls, according to variations in the tension of the yarn running from the'bobbin to the needles, this change being due to the automatic shifting of the yarn guide along the rolls as tension changes. For this purpose the roll 2 turns on a rod 3 mounted in a bracket 4, which is pivoted at 5 ton. substantially horizontal plate 6 which is pivoted at its ends 7, 8, in ears 9 of a fixed bracket 10, secured at 11 to the post or standard 12; The horizontal plate is pressed upwardly by a spring 14 in a pocket 15 of the bracket 10, the spring pressure being exerted against the extension 6 of the plate 6, the effect being to press the roll 2 yieldingly against the roll 1, b'ut permitting the said roll 2 to assume different angular positions in respect to the roll 1 in accordance with the various positions that the yarn will assume along the bite of the rollers. To illustrate, supposing the yarn to be passing through the rollers at point X in Fig. 7; the roll 2 will bear on the roll 1 at its larger diameter portion, while itwill .be out of contact with the roll at the smaller diameter portion, due to the interposed yarn, but if the yarn assumes, say a position at about X, Fig. 8, then the roll 2 will tilt the other way, always, however, under the yielding pressure of the spring, and it will be driven by its frictional contact with the larger cone at its smaller diameter portion. In other words, the roll 2 is not held in rigid relation to the roll 1, but is spring pressed and will accommodate itself lengthwise to the shifting of the yarn to various positions along the meeting line of the rolls, but at all times it will exert substantially uniform pressure upon the yarn.

The conical roller 1 is driven in unison with the knitting head, and in the example illustrated it is driven by bevel gears 17 from a vertical shaft 18 which is. driven through a gear onthe lower end thereof, an intermediate gear and the gear on the knitting head of the type of machine known as the Pigeon, though, of course, the invention is not limited in its use to any particular type of machine. I

The yarn guides are shown at a, 6. One of these is, for instance, for the yarn which knits the top of the stocking leg, and the other I) is for the yarn used for knitting the leg. There may be more than two yarns,

but in either case, they are supplied to the needles by the furnishing means. These yarn guides are carried by discs or members .28. These lifters have hooks or projections I 29 which engage under pins 30 on the inner sides of the discs. These pins are extensions of the screws 31* which secure the sweep arms a 6 to the discs, and these screws are clamped by nuts 32." The lifters 28 have stems 28 extending down through the hollow standard 22 and at their lower ends they have projections 29 to be engaged by lifting levers 31, 31. One of these, 31, is on a hollow shaft 32 having an arm 33 to which is pivotally connected a hook-34 which engages the tail extension 35 of one of the arms or levers 36, 36 which are usually employed in the Pigeon machine for controlling the position in or out of work, of the yarn feed fingers which direct the yarn to the needle. The other lifting lever 31 is on a shaft 37 which passes through the hollow shaft 32 and carries an arm 38 to which a hook 39 is pivotally connected, which hook engages a pin on the tail extension of the lever or arm 36*, which like the arm 36, controls the position in or out of another one of the yarn feed fingers. One of these yarn feed fingers is shown at 41, down in yarn feeding position, this being due to the fact that its controlling arm 36 has been lowered, and that its spring 42 has forced itdown, and the other yarn feed ing finger 41 is shown up out of service due to the fact that its controlling lever is in its elevated position. The position of the controlling arms is controlled by a drum 43 having high and low parts, as usual in the Pigeon machine, which drum operates upon the arms 40 and 40 of the levers respectlvely, the drum being turned by the pattern mechanism of the machine in the usual manner, and presenting its high and low parts to the said arms 40 and 40 The hooks 34 and 39 are pressed by springs 43 to hold them in engagement with the pins of the controller levers 36 and 36".

It will now be understood that if either of the yarn fingers 41, 41 is operated in or out of feeding position, the corresponding yarn guide 0:, b will be opera-ted in or out of active position, that is to say, when the yarn guide finger 41 of the knitting head is down in position, as shown in Fig. 1 to feed the needles, the guide a will be in the position shown to direct the yarn between the furnishing members or rolls, which will therefore, furnish the yarn as demanded by the needles, and to compensate for the ,variations in the tension of the yarn, and when one of these yarn feed fingers is lifted out of workin position, as shown at 41, thecorrespon 'ng yarn guide, as b, will be moved to inactive position,as shown in the drawings, where it will have removed the yarn controlled by it from between the conical furnishing wheels so that no yarn will be furnished to this yarn finger so long as it remains in inactiveposition. Thus, when a yarn feed finger, as 4D, is raised by its controlling lever. 36*, the hook 39 connected thereto will be pushed down, turning arm 38 and rock shaft 37, and raising arm 31 so that the corresponding lifter 28 will be raised, which acting on the pin 30 of the right hand disc 19, will turn this backward and throw its guide I) to the front to inactive position as shown, to thereby remove the yarn guided by it from between the yarn furnishing rolls.

The yarn guide eye a will be in position to direct its yarn between the conical rolls because the dropping of arm 36 to lower yarn guide finger 41 to active position, will pull up on hook 34, lower lever arm 31 allowing lifter 28 at the left to drop, and permitting left-hand disc 19 to turn forward-under the impulse of a sprin 44 bearing upwardly on a pin 45 set in the inner face of the left hand disc. This spring gives the disc and its yarn guide eye (1 their initial movement to throw the yarn passing through the eye' a into the bite of the rolls and thereafter, the disc can oscillate freely in response to the variations 35 in tension of the yarn passing through the drawing, Fig. 1, illustrates the condition after this spring has exerted its force on the pin 45 of the left hand disc and has been pressed-down again by the turning backward of the right hand disc consequent upon the lifter 28 of that disc rising and causing the pin of said right hand disc to act on the spring. The spring 44 is supported by a block 44 fixed to standard 22. The conical rolls 1, 2 have their ends sharply tapered to act as guiding surfaces for the yarns when they are being introduced between the rolls. Considering the action of the parts shown in Fig. 1, if the position of the two lifters 28 is reversed, then the spring 44 will give to the disc of sweep 6 its initial impulse to insert its yarn passing through eye 6 into position in between the rolls, thereafter the draft of the yarn will hold the sweep b in position so that the yarn belon ing thereto will be furnished to the needles y the feeding action of the rolls thereon. ihThe course of the yarns may be followed t us:

The active yarn a! comes from the bobbin 7 through the left hand guide by 26, Figs. 2

and 3, thence through eye of shiftable guide a between the rolls, through eye of yielding sweep 46, thence upwardly and through eye eye of the sweep connected therewith. The

range of free oscillating movement.

of sweep a, thence to rear eye 41 of yarn guide finger 41' then through the front eye of said finger and to the needles.

The other, or inactive yarn y, passes through the right hand guide eye 26,'Figs. 2 and 3, then through shiftable guide I) now in inactive position to ey of the other yielding sweep 463 thence p through 'eye of sweep b to rear eye 41 of yarn finger 41 to the front eye thereof, and thence to .the needles. The yieldin sweeps '46, 46' are for the purpose of supplying yarn .during the time that the shiftable guide a or b is finding "its proper position along the meeting line of the conical rolls. When the yarn is first introduced between the rolls ,it will be furyielding sweep 46 or 46 rising during this action and supplying 5 or 6 inches of yarn. The pull of the yarn being used up at the needles will almost immediately, however, result in drawing the sweep a or b down and shifting the arn guide arm a or b to its proper point a ong the rolls.

. nished at first by the action of the small di- The sweeps 46 and 46 are pivotally mounted at 47 and each is under pressure of a spring shown at 48, 48 The discs 19 are jhollow and contain quicksilver which passes fro-m one compartment to the other thereof through an opening by which the action of said discs is dampened to prevent undue vibration. as inapplication for Letters Patent of the-'UnitedSta'tes, No. 553,461, filed April 17, 1922.

Adjustable weights 49 are mounted on the 7 discs These will serve to turn the discs to throw the yarns from between the rolls in case the yarn fails at any point between the rolls and the needles, and thus the furnishing of the yarn by the rolls will immediately cease. TlllS will prevent the yarn from piling up under the rolls, which it would do if it is not being consumed at the needles and is still passing through the rolls.

' The spring 44 is common to both discs 19, operating thereon through the pins45, 45 thereof.

It will be seen from Fig. 1 that the pin 45 of the active disc 19, and its yarn guide a, is free from the spring 44, which is now held pressed down by the pin 45, and therefore, the yarn guide a can have a considerable This spring overcomes quickly the inertia of the disc which is to become active. The weight 49 has a tendency to turn the disc and throw its yarn guide out of active position, i. e., to a position where the yarn guided thereby will not be between the rolls and the inertia of this weight is immediately overcome by the spring when the lifter 28 falls to release the disc.

The hooks 34:, 39 enable the operator to detach the yarn furnishing connections from the levers 36, 36 so that the finger assembly and yarn clamping device can be thrown up out of action.

With the yarn furnishing means disclosed herein, the yarn is supplied to the needles at little or no tension. The usual practice is to run under considerable tension, resulting in accentuating imperfections of the fabric. The mechanism takes care of the furnishing of each yarn and responds at once to the changing of the yarns and it in no way interferes with the adjustment of the machine for different lengths of stitches. If, for instance, the machine is automatically adjusted to make shorter stitches, the yarn guide a or b will be automatically adjusted towards the small ends of the conical rolls and will os cillate back and forth within a certain range of an approximate position for preserving this shorter length of stitch, whereas if the machine is adjusted to make a longer stitch, the yarn guide a or b will automatically and immediately assume an approximate po- 'sition nearer to the larger ends of the conical rolls and will oscillate in respect thereto to compensate for variations in the tension of -the yarn and to maintain uniform the longer stitch length.

The invention is not limited to the use of plain conical rolls, but these are preferred.

It will be understood that the idle yarn end is held by a clamp within the needle circle after it is severed by a cutter also located within the needle circle, this being usual practice as for instance in the Pigeon type of stocking knitting machine.

What I claim is 1. In combination with a knitting machine having automatic yarn changing means,

. means for furnishing the yarns, comprising rotary members between which the yarns pass to be drawn thereby from the supply, shiftable yarn guides for directing the yarns between the rotary members at different points along the same to be drawn off from the supply at different rates of speed, means controlled by the variation in the tension of the yarn for shifting the yarn guides of the yarn furnishing means, and means including connections between the automatic yarn changers of the knitting machine and the yarn guides of the yarn furnishing members for automatically inserting the substitute yarn between the rotary members and for automatically withdrawing the yarn, which has been feeding, from between said rotary members.

2. In combination with a knitting machine having yarn guide fingers with means for automatically moving one to introduce its yarn to the needles and for moving the other to withdraw its yarn from the needles, a pair of rotary members adapted to withdraw the yarns from their supplies at difierent rates of speed according to the variation in tension of the yarns, and means for automati" cally introducing the yarns into and withdrawing them from, position between said pair of rotary members in accordance with their introduction to and withdrawal from the needles, said pair of rolls serving for both yarns, substantially as described.

3. In combination in yarn furnishing means for knitting machines, rotary members for drawing off the yarns from the supplies at ditferent rates-of speed, yarn guides shiftable along therotary members to change the position of the yarns along said rotary members, sweeps connected with the yarn guides for shifting them according to the variations in tension of the yarns passing through and acting upon said sweeps, one of said yarns being acted on by said rotary members while the other is idle or out of effective engagement with said rotary members, and means for automatically introducing the previously idle yarn into the bite of said rotary members to become active and for withdrawing the previously working yarn from between said rotary members to idle position, substantially as described.

4. In combination, a pair of rotary members for furnishing yarn to the needles of a knitting machine, means for automatically'introducing a yarn to, and withdrawing the same from. the bite of said rotary members, and a. yielding yarn guide between the said rotary membersand the needles to supply said newly introduced yarn to the needles while said yarn is finding its proper position along the said rotary nie1n bers, and means for shifting the yarn along the rotary members to be measured off at diflerent rates of speed according to the tension of the yarn, said last mentioned means engaging the yarn between the rotary members and the needles, substantially as described.

5. In combination, a pair of rotary members adapted to furnish yarn to the needles at different rates according to the tension of the yarn, an auton'iatically shiftable yarn finger for introducing yarn to, or withdrawing it from. the needles, a shiftable yarn guide for shifting the yarn to different points along the said rotary members, and a connection between the said guides by which the movement of the former to and from feeding position relative to the needles will change the position of the latter to introduce the yarn to, or withdraw it from, said rotary members, substantially as described.

6. In combination, a pairof rotary members adapted to furnish yarn to the needles at difierent rates according to the tension of the yarn, a shiftable yarn finger for introducing yarn to, or withdrawing it from, the

needles, a shiftable yarn guide for shifting the yarn to difierent points along the said rotary members according to its tension, and a connection between the said yarn finger and said yarn guides by which the movement of the former to and from feeding osition relative to the needles will change t e posi- 'tion of the latter to introduce the yarn to,

7. In combination, a movable yarn feed finger to introduce the yarn to or withdraw it from the needles, yarn furnishing rotary members adapted to furnish yarn at difi'erent rates of speed, a shiftable yarn guide to position the yarn at different points along said rotarymembers, an oscillating carrier for said guide, a yarn guide also connected with said carrier to turn the same according to variations in the tension of the yarn, alifter for turning the carrier to shift the yarn guide first mentioned to a position to withdraw the yarn from between the said rotary members, a connection between said lifter and the said yarn feed finger of the knitting machine to shift said carrier with its yarn guide to idle position when the'yarn finger is moved to withdraw its yarn from the needles, and a spring for turning the oscillatory carrier to introduce the yarn between said rotary members when the yarn finger is moved to lntroduce said yarn to the needles, substantially as described.

8. In combination, a movable yarn feed finger to introduce the yarn to or withdraw it from the needles, yarn furnishing rotary members adapted to furnish yarn at different rates of speed, a shiftable yarn guide to position the yarn at different points along said rotary members, an oscillating carrier for said guide, a yarn guide alsoconnected.

with said carrier to turn the same according to variations in the tension of the yarn, a lifter forl turning the carrier to shift the yarn guide first mentioned to a position to withdraw the yarn from between the said rotary members, a connection between said lifter and the said yarn feed finger of the.

knitting machine to shift said. carrier with its yarn guide to idle position when the yarn finger is moved to withdraw its yarn from the needles, and a spring forturning the oscillatory carrier to introduce the yarn between said rotary members when the yarn- 'finger is moved to introduce said yarn to the needles, and an adjustable weight to move the carrier to withdraw its yarn from the rotary members when said yarn fails,

substantially as described.

9. In combination, rotary members for furnlshlng yarn to a kn1tt1ng machine, a

shiftable yarn guide for positioning thev yarn at different points along said rotary members to be measured oil at difi'erent rates, means carried by the said carrier in contact with the yarn for turning said carrier one way in accordance with changes in tension, and to thereby shift the yarn guide along said rotary members, said oscillating carrier being biased to move the yarn from between said rotary members to idle position if the yarn fails in passing to the needles, a lifter for turning the carrier to withdraw the yarn from between the rotary members, a yarn feed finger at the needles connected with said lifter to operate the same when said finger is moved to idle position to withdraw the yarn from the needles, and a spring for turning the oscillatory carrier to introduce the yarn to the rotary members when said yarn feed finger is shifted to position to feed the needles and the lifter has dropped, substantially as described.

10. In combination, rotary members for furnishing yarn to the needles of a knitting machine, a pair of oscillatory carriers, a

yarn guide on each carrier to direct yarn to the rotary members at difierent points along the same to be measured 0E therebyat different rates, means on the carriers engaged. b the yarn for changing the position of t e carriers and yarn guides according to variations in the tension of the yarns, means for turning either of the carriers to and holding it in, ldle position with the yarn guide carrier thereby to withdraw its yarn from between the rotary members leaving the other carrier free to oscillate, and spring means for turning the carriers when released by said holding means, to introduce its yarn to the rotary members, substan-.

tially as described.

11. In combination, rotary members for furnishing yarn to the needles of a knitting machine, a pair of oscillatory carriers, a yarn guide on each carrier todirect yarn to the rotarymembers at different points along the same to be measured off thereby at different rates, means on the carriers engaged by the yarn for changing the position of the carriers and yarn guides according to variations in the tension of the yarns, means for turning either of the carrlers to and holding it in, idle position with the yarn guide carrier thereby to withdraw its yarn from between the rotary members leaving the other carrier free to oscillate, and spring means for turnin the carriers when 'released by said hol ing means, to introduce its yarn to the rotary members, said spring means being common to both carriers and being compressed by the one in idle position and held out of range of the free oscillatory movement of the other carrier, substantially as described.

12. In yarn furnishing means for a knitting machine, the combination of apair of plain surface conical rolls, means for positively driving one of them and spring means for holding the other roll in contact therewith to be driven frictionally therefrom, said other roll under said spring pressure, being shiftable to different angular positions relative to the drive roll, automatically, according to the position of the yarn at difierent points alon the bite of said rolls, and while maintaining frictional contact with said drive roll to be driven therefrom, and means controlled by the tension of the yarn for shifting said yarn to said difierent points along the rolls, substantially as described.

13. In yarn furnishing means for a knitting machine, the combination of a pair of plain surface conical rolls, means for positively driving one of them and spring means for holding the other roll in contact therewith to be driven frictionally therefrom, said other roll under said spring pressure, being shiftable to difierent angular positions relative to the drive roll, automatically, according to the position of the yarn at difierent points along the bite of said rolls, said sprin means exerting its force upon a plate whlch is turnable about horizontal pivots, and carries a bracket turnable about a vertical pivot on said plate, the bracket carrying the bearings for said shiftable roll, substantially as described.

14. In combination a pair of rotary members for furnishing the yarn at different rates according to the location of the yarn along the bite thereof, with means for driv ing the same, a yarn guide movable along the same to locate the yarn at points be tween the said members to be furnished thereby to the needles of a knitting machine, said yarn guide having a range of movement to carry said yarn to a. point beyond the said rotary members to idle position, a sweep engaging the yarn at a point there on between the said members and the needles and connected with the said yarn guide to alter its positions along the rotary members, guide means engaging the said yarn on its way from the rotary members to the needles to provide an extra yarn length between said rotary members and needles, a yarn feed finger with means for automatically moving the same towards and from feeding position, a connection for operating the yarn guide first mentioned upon the operation of the yarn feed finger from one position to the other to shift the yarn to or from idle posi tion in respect to said rotary members, the

ree reee said guide means which engages with and I provides the extra yarn length being yielding to supply yarn from the said extra length to the needles when the said yarn is shifted from idle position to a position in the bite of the rotary members, substantially as described.

15. In combinatiorn'a pair of rotary yarn furnishing members to supply yarn to the needles at varying rates according to the different points along the bite thereof to which the yarn is shifted, a pair of yarn guides each arranged to pass the other for positioning the yarns at different points along said rolls according to the tension of the yarn, means for operating said guides according to the varying tension of the yarns, yarn feed fingers at the needles, means for shifting them automatically to and from yarn feeding position, and connections for shifting the yarn guides to and from an idle position at which yarn furnishing will cease, substantially as described.

16. In yarn furnishing means for knitting machines, the combination of a pair of I conical plain surface rolls, means for positively driving one of them, the other being.

driven by its frictional contact therewith, means for mounting the rolls at one end only, leaving the other ends free, means exerting spring pressure upon the mounting of the friction driven roll, whereby said roll may tip in relation to the other roll, and yarn guide means controlled by the tension of the yarn to shift said yarn along the rolls, yarn fingers to feed the yarn to the needles, said yarn fingers being movable to present and withdraw the yarn relative to the needles, and means for operating the yarn guide means to introduce the yarn to and withdraw the yarn from the rolls in s nchronism with the movement of theyarn ngers to and from feeding position, substantially as described.

17. In combination in yarn furnishing means for knitting machines, a pair of plain surface conical rolls, means for driving one of them which in turn drives the other by frictional contact, means for yieldingly mounting the driven roll at one end only to allow it to assume difi'erent angular positions relative to the other roll according to the position of the yarn along their meeting line, and guide means for the yarn shiftable along said meeting line according to variations in the tension of the yarn, substantially as described.

18. In combination with a knitting machine, yarn feed fingers, means for automatically operating the said fin ers to introduce their yarns to the need es and to withdraw their yarns from the needles, yarn furnishing means comprising rotary members with meansfor driving them, said rotary members furnishing the yarn at varyi teases ing rates according to the position along the said members at which the yarn passes between them, yarn guides, one for each yarn feed finger, shiftable along the rotary members, and having each a range of movement to place its yarn either between the said members for furnishing thereby or in the idle position where it will not be furnished by said members, means connected with said guides and affected by variations in the tension of the yarn for shifting said yarn guides along the yarn furnishing members, to vary the rate of feed according to the tension of the yarn, and an operating connection for each of said guides arranged to work in synchronism with the corresponding yarn feed finger for shifting the guide in respect to said rotary members to introduce its yarn between them simultaneously with the movement of the said corresponding yarn feed finger to feeding position, and for shifting said guide to idle position in respect to said members when the corresponding yarn feed finger is removed from its feeding position relative to the needles, substantlally as described. 19. In combination with a knitting machine having movable yarn feed fingers to comprising rotary members adapted to furnish the yarns at difierent rates of speed to the needles according to variations in the tension of the yarns, said members having yarn guiding portions to direct the yarn to the bite of the members when moved from idle position, movable yarn guide eyes shiftable along the said members to move the yarn to different positions between them and to and from idle positions, sweeps subjected to the tension of the yarns and connected to the yarn guide eyes for shifting them according to variations in the tension of the yarns, and operating connections to said yarn guide eyes to shift them to idle position and from idle position according as the yarn feed fingers are shifted to introduce the yarn to or withdraw it from the needlesand means for operating the yarn feed fingers and said connections, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I afix my signature.

KENNETH HOWIE. 

